Weight Watch News Blog From Medicineworld.Org

July 18, 2011, 8:25 AM CT

'Love your body' to lose weight

Almost a quarter of men and women in England and over a third of adults in America are obese. Obesity increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease and can significantly shorten a person's life expectancy. New research published by BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity shows that improving body image can enhance the effectiveness of weight loss programs based on diet and exercise.

Scientists from the Technical University of Lisbon and Bangor University enrolled overweight and obese women on a year-long weight loss program. Half the women were given general health information about good nutrition, stress management, and the importance of looking after yourself. The other half attended 30 weekly group sessions (the intervention plan) where issues such as exercise, emotional eating, improving body image and the recognition of, and how to overcome, personal barriers to weight loss and lapses from the diet were discussed.

On the behavioral intervention plan women observed that the way they thought about their body improved and that concerns about body shape and size were reduced. In comparison to the control group they were better able to self-regulate their eating and they lost much more weight, losing on average 7% of their starting weight in comparison to less than 2% for the control group.........

Bariatric surgery among older

The use of bariatric surgery among older, severely obese patients was not linked to a decreased risk of death, as per a research studyin the June 15 issue of JAMA This study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting.

"Obesity incidence has stabilized after decades of rapid increases, whereas the prevalence of patients with a body mass index [BMI] greater than 35 increased 39 percent between 2000 and 2005, the prevalence of severe obesity (BMI greater than 40) increased 50 percent, and the prevalence of superobesity (BMI greater than 50) increased 75 percent. Obesity is difficult to treat, and bariatric surgery is the most effective means to induce weight loss for the severely obese. Consequently, obesity surgery rates rapidly increased in tandem," as per background information in the article. "To date, no study to our knowledge has examined the long-term survival of high-risk patients who underwent bariatric surgery".

Matthew L. Maciejewski, Ph.D., of the Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and his colleagues conducted a study to determine whether bariatric surgery is linked to reduced mortality among predominantly older male high-risk patients at Veterans Affairs medical centers. Mortality was examined for 850 veterans who had bariatric surgery in January 2000 to December 2006 (average age 49.5 years; average BMI, 47.4) and 41,244 nonsurgical controls (average age 54.7 years; average BMI 42.0) from the same 12 Veteran Integrated Service Networks; the follow-up was through December 2008.........

Skip the coffee, study says

Eating a fatty fast food meal is never good for you, but washing that meal down with a coffee is even worse, as per a new University of Guelph study.

Researcher Marie-Soleil Beaudoin has discovered not only that a healthy person's blood sugar levels spike after eating a high-fat meal, but that the spike doubles after having both a fatty meal and caffeinated coffee � jumping to levels similar to those of people who are at risk for diabetes.

"The results tell us that saturated fat interferes with the body's ability to clear sugars from the blood and, when combined with caffeinated coffee, the impact can be even worse," said Beaudoin, a PhD student who conducted the study with U of G professors Lindsay Robinson and Terry Graham. "Having sugar remain in our blood for long periods is unhealthy because it can take a toll on our body's organs".

Published recently in the Journal of Nutrition� the study is the first to examine the effects of saturated fat and caffeinated coffee on blood sugar levels using a novel fat cocktail which contains only lipids. This specially designed beverage allows scientists to accurately mimic what happens to the body when we ingest fat.

For the study, healthy men drank about one gram of the fat beverage for every kilogram of body weight for their first meal. Six hours later, they were given a second meal consisting of a sugar drink.........

Bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes

Bariatric surgery is an particularly cost-effective treatment for managing Type 2 diabetes in moderately and severely obese patients. These findings and others were presented today at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, hosted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Cost effectiveness is central to the larger issue of access to surgical therapy of diabetes, says Dr. Francesco Rubino, director of the Congress and director of gastrointestinal metabolic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Today, an estimated 285 million people around the globe suffer from Type 2 diabetes, and the number is expected to double by 2030, notes Dr. Rubino, who also serves as associate professor of surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. "The need for effective, potentially curative therapies is urgent".

As per an analysis presented today at the Congress by an Australian researcher, bariatric surgery to treat Type 2 diabetes has been demonstrated to be very cost effective in the countries in which this research has been done -- the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and in some European settings.

The review also observed that several studies have determined that bariatric surgery was not only cost effective, but cost saving, says Catherine Keating, a senior research fellow from the Health Economics Unit at Deakin University in Melbourne, who made the presentation. For obese patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes during the two years previous to bariatric surgery, one study observed that the upfront costs of surgery would be fully recouped through the prevention of future health care costs to treat Type 2 diabetes. This study was undertaken alongside a clinical trial that observed that remission of Type 2 diabetes was five times greater in surgically treated patients, relative to those receiving conventional therapies, she says.........

Consumption of omega-3s

A study of Yup'ik Eskimos in Alaska, who on average consume 20 times more omega-3 fats from fish than people in the lower 48 states, suggests that a high intake of these fats helps prevent obesity-related chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

The study, led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and conducted in collaboration with the Center for Alaska Native Health Research at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, was published online March 23 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

"Because Yup'ik Eskimos have a traditional diet that includes large amounts of fatty fish and have a prevalence of overweight or obesity that is similar to that of the general U.S. population, this offered a unique opportunity to study whether omega-3 fats change the association between obesity and chronic disease risk," said main author Zeina Makhoul, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer Prevention Program of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.

The fats the scientists were interested in measuring were those found in salmon, sardines and other fatty fish: docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, and eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA.

Scientists analyzed data from a community-based study of 330 people living in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta region of southwest Alaska, 70 percent of whom were overweight or obese. As expected, the scientists observed that in participants with low blood levels of DHA and EPA, obesity strongly increased both blood triglycerides (a blood lipid abnormality) and C-reactive protein, or CRP (a measure of overall body inflammation). Elevated levels of triglycerides and CRP increase the risk of heart disease and, possibly, diabetes.........

Length of time lived with obesity

New research shows the number of years individuals live with obesity is directly linked to the risk of mortality, with individuals who live with obesity for more than 15 years tripling their risk.

The research, undertaken by experts from Monash University and the University of Copenhagen, shows that the duration of obesity is a strong predictor of mortality - independent of the actual level of Body Mass Index (BMI).

Using data which followed 5,209 individuals over 48 years, the research showed that for those who had a medium number of years lived with obesity (between five years and 14.9 years), the risk of mortality more than doubled in comparison to those who had never been obese.

The risk of mortality almost tripled for those with the longest duration of obesity - more than 15 years.

The research also showed for every additional two years lived with obesity, the risk of mortality increased between six and seven per cent.

"Before now we did not know whether being obese for longer was any worse for your health than simply being obese," Dr Anna Peeters from Monash University said.

"This research shows for the first time that being obese for longer increases your risk of mortality.

Dr Peeters said the resesarch provides added support for current health policies aimed at preventing obesity.........

Low birth weight and obesity later in life

LA BioMed study finds nutritionally deprived newborns are "programmed" to eat more because they develop less neurons in the region of the brain that controls food intake.

Credit: LA BioMed

Providing further understanding of the link between low birth weights and obesity during the later part of life, scientists found nutritionally deprived newborns are "programmed" to eat more because they develop less neurons in the region of the brain that controls food intake, as per an article published recently in the journal, Brain Research

The study by a team of scientists at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) suggests that overeating is programmed at the level of stem cells before birth when the mother has poor or inadequate nutrition.

Using an animal model, the scientists found less division and differentiation of the neural stem cells of a newborn with low birth weight as in comparison to normal birth weight. Prior studies have observed a small size at birth followed by accelerated "catch-up" growth is linked to an increased risk of adult obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.

"This study demonstrates the importance of maternal nutrition and health in reducing obesity," said Dr. Mina Desai, an LA BioMed principal investigator and corresponding author of the newly released study. "Obesity and its related diseases are the leading cause of death in our society, yet we have few effective strategies for prevention or therapy. These studies suggest maternal nutrition could play a critical role in preventing obesity and related disease".........

Online nutrition courses

Most of us have heard of Phoenix, no, not the mystical bird or the capital of Arizona, but the online university. As per the Babson Survey Research Group, enrollment in online courses is growing faster than overall higher education offerings due to various reasons like the economic downturn. With the increase in demand for online education, a study in the March/April 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores nine online nutrition courses.

Since nutrition courses meet general education science requirements and professional education needs in dietetics, medical, nursing, and other allied health curricula, nutrition is among the a number of postsecondary subjects usually taught online. Investigators from the University of Massachusetts evaluated published literature concerning online nutrition education courses. Findings from this study revealed four quasi-experimental studies that indicated no differences in nutrition knowledge or achievement between online and face-to-face learners. Results were inconclusive regarding student satisfaction, motivation, or perceptions.

This study documents that eventhough a number of components of nutrition education have been successfully included in online courses, there are still some areas that need improvement. Dr. Nancy Cohen, professor at the University of Massachusetts states, "Students can gain knowledge in online as well as in face to face nutrition courses, but satisfaction is mixed. Online learning has advantages such as overcoming time and distance barriers, capacity to share resources among colleges and universities to wide audiences, and the ability to use innovative multimedia and virtual instructional methods. However, if online courses are designed in such a way that traditional face to face methods like textbook readings, lectures, and examinations are published on the Internet without considering social isolation, de-individualized instruction, and using technology for the sake of technology, effective learning may not occur".........

Weight-loss surgery successful in adolescents

Bariatric surgery refers to several different surgical procedures designed to assist weight loss by limiting the amount of food someone eats or the amount they absorb during digestion. It has been used for several years to treat obesity in adults. A newly released study reported in the journal Clinical Obesity reveals that bariatric surgery can result in significant weight loss in severely obese adolescents.

Led by Ange Aikenhead of the International Association for the Study of Obesity in London, England, scientists searched various databases for articles examining subjects less than 19 years of age reporting at least one postoperative weight loss measure and at least one year of postoperative follow-up.

Thirty-seven relevant papers on bariatric surgery effectiveness in 831 children or adolescents were included, spanning 36 years. Thirteen studies examined gastric banding, with mean BMI reductions ranging from 8.5 to 43 kg/m-2. Weight gain was reported in three studies. Three surgery-related mortalities were reported, and a range of postoperative complications were identified across surgery types. The majority of studies reported resolution or improvement of other conditions affecting the patients.

The current evidence suggests that bariatric surgery in older children results in significant weight loss and improvements in comorbidities and quality of life.........

Obesity and knee arthritis

More than 14 million visits were made to physicians' offices in 2008 by patients with knee problems. Five new studies presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) look at the effect that obesity has on knee arthritis and a patient's ability to recover from knee surgery.

One newly released study observed that while weight loss via bariatric surgery may improve knee pain in obese patients with knee osteoarthritis, there appears to be permanent damage to the knee from being morbidly obese.

The investigation included 10 morbidly obese patients with knee osteoarthritis who were reviewed before and after bariatric surgery. Patients lost an average of 51 pounds in one year. One year after surgery, knee pain and function improved significantly.

"For a long time people felt there was nothing they could do to mitigate the debilitating effects of knee arthritis, but now we know that surgically-assisted weight loss is a way that folks can help themselves," says Michael S. Sridhar, MD, co-investigator and resident at Emory University. "However, there is probably some element of irreparable damage from being morbidly obese that may constrain the improvement in knee pain despite significant weight loss. Looking at the actual joint surfaces with advanced imaging to assess damage is the exciting next step in studying the evolution of knee arthritis in the obese population."........

Losing body fat before pregnancy

Obesity among women of childbearing age is increasing worldwide. Because babies of obese mothers are themselves predisposed to obesity, society can reasonably expect the epidemic of obese and overweight people to continue through future generations.

In the midst of this trend, UT Health Science Center San Antonio obstetrics scientists are studying the question: If mothers lose body fat before pregnancy, does it improve the lifelong health of their children? This could be one way to break the transgenerational cycle. A collaborative study between scientists with the Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Research at the Health Science Center and the National Institute of Nutrition in Mexico City showed that if obese mothers lose weight before pregnancy, it confers health benefits on their offspring.

Research in rat mothers

In the study, scientists induced maternal obesity by feeding a group of female rats a high-fat diet previous to mating. This group of females ate the fatty chow from weaning through adolescent life to breeding and remained on it through pregnancy and lactation. Meanwhile, females in a second group were switched to normal chow one month before mating.

Reversible metabolic effects

Only male offspring were studied. At weaning, triglycerides, leptin, insulin and insulin resistance were elevated in offspring of obese mothers and all returned to normal if their mothers had received prepregnancy dietary intervention. Fat mass and fat cell size were increased in offspring of fat mothers and these changes were significantly reversed, though not completely abolished, by the dietary intervention. The authors said this is the first study showing reversibility of adverse metabolic effects of maternal obesity on offspring by a pre-pregnancy intervention. Outcomes and reversibility varied by tissue affected.........

Tonsillectomy linked to excess weight gain

Alexandria, VA � Tonsillectomy is the most common major surgical procedure performed in children. Children who undergo the surgical removal of their tonsils (tonsillectomy), with or without the removal of their adenoids (adenoidectomy), are at increased risk for becoming overweight after surgery, as per new research reported in the February 2011 issue of Otolaryngology � Head and Neck Surgery

Pediatric obesity has increased overwhelmingly over the last 20 years, with recent data suggesting that as a number of as 33 percent of American children are overweight and 17 percent obese. Obese children are at increased risk of becoming obese adults, thus making them susceptible to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The study sample included 795 children aged 0 to 18 years old, described as normal weight or overweight and who had tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy surgery. In 47.7 percent of patients, the primary reason for surgery was sleep-disordered breathing. The first group included three studies involving 127 children, whose body mass index (BMI) increased by 5.5-8.2%. The second group included three studies involving 419 patients, in whom the standardized weight scores increased in 46-100% patients. The third group included three studies with 249 patients, in whom 50 � 75% of the patients gained weight after adenoidectomy. Each study was designed with different definitions of overweight and a range of follow-up periods.........

Menu labeling didn't change behavior

An effort in King County, Washington, to add nutrition facts labeling to fast food menus had no effect on consumer behavior in its first year.

As part of a comprehensive effort to stem the rise in obesity, the county, which includes Seattle and environs, imposed a required menu labeling regulation on all restaurant chains with 15 or more locations beginning in January, 2009. Restaurants had to disclose calorie information at the point of purchase.

Scientists from Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School and the public health department of Seattle & King County found, in the 13 months after the legislation went into effect, food-purchasing behavior at the Taco Time locations in King County was identical to that in Taco Time locations where menu boards remained unchanged.

The total number of sales and average calories per transaction were unaffected by the menu labeling.

"Given the results of previous studies, we had expected the results to be small, but we were surprised that we could not detect even the slightest hint of changes in purchasing behavior as a result of the legislation," said main author Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., associate professor of health services at Duke-NUS. "The results suggest that required menu labeling, unless combined with other interventions, appears to be unlikely to significantly influence the obesity epidemic".........

Alcoholism and risk for obesity

Addiction scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have observed that a risk for alcoholism also may put individuals at risk for obesity.

The scientists noted that the association between a family history of alcoholism and obesity risk has become more pronounced in recent years. Both men and women with such a family history were more likely to be obese in 2002 than members of that same high-risk group had been in 1992.

"In addiction research, we often look at what we call cross-heritability, which addresses the question of whether the predisposition to one condition also might contribute to other conditions," says first author Richard A. Grucza, PhD. "For example, alcoholism and drug abuse are cross-heritable. This newly released study demonstrates a cross-heritability between alcoholism and obesity, but it also says - and this is very important - that some of the risks must be a function of the environment. The environment is what changed between the 1990s and the 2000s. It wasn't people's genes".

Obesity in the United States has doubled in recent decades from 15 percent of the population in the late 1970s to 33 percent in 2004. Obese people - those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more - have an elevated risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.........

Belly fat puts women at risk for osteoporosis

For years, it was believed that obese women were at lower risk for developing osteoporosis, and that excess body fat actually protected against bone loss. However, a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) observed that having too much internal abdominal fat may, in fact, have a damaging effect on bone health.

"We know that obesity is a major public health problem," said the study's main author, Miriam A. Bredella, M.D., a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "Now we know that abdominal obesity needs to be included as a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone loss." .

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 72 million American adults are considered obese. The CDC defines obesity as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. Obesity is linked to a number of health problems including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, sleep apnea and joint diseases. Yet despite all the health issues, it was usually accepted that women with increased body weight were at lower risk for bone loss.

But not all body fat is the same. Subcutaneous fat lies just below the skin, and visceral or intra-abdominal fat is located deep under the muscle tissue in the abdominal cavity. Genetics, diet and exercise are all contributors to the level of visceral fat that is stored in the body. Excess visceral fat is considered especially dangerous, because in prior studies it has been linked to increased risk for heart disease.........

Did you know?Exercise can't stop the aging process, but experts at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston say that for the elderly, whether it's weight training, walking, swimming or biking, 30 minutes of exercise three to five times a week is a good prescription for aging."It's never too late to start exercising," said Dr. Robert Roush, an associate professor of medicine-geriatrics at BCM. "Being physically active and exercising regularly can help prevent or delay some diseases and disabilities as people age.".